4 replies

Since rinsing with CloSYS is recommended as the first step in this oral hygiene routine and since CloSYS kills 99.9% of bad breath germs within seconds (according to information provided on the product box), why is follow-up rinsing with Listerine necessary? CloSYS has the additional advantage of being alcohol free where as the recommended Listerine product is not.

Thanks for your great question. Closys and Listerine are completely different products and work differently. Our main concern is certainly to eliminate harmful bacteria BUT (at the same time) develop healthy ones to take their place. This is why I am extremely careful to only recommend rinses that work to do BOTH things.

Closys reacts with saliva ( for 30 seconds) and becomes oxygen which cleans around teeth. There are 11 specific varieties of harmful gum disease bacteria. These are anaerobic and so oxygen disrupts them. Oxygen is also helpful to oxygenate the tissues for healing and it will pH balance the mouth prior to brushing – all useful extras!

The active ingredients in Listerine are essential oils- eucalyptus, menthol and thymol. These oils target immature plaque bacteria by bursting their shells (young plaque bacteria round spheres for about 12 hours). These plaque bacteria are aerobic – so oxygen does not affect them. Listerine also works in a couple of ways to enhance the benefits of the final rinse (ACT). Think of Listerine as a toner being used before a moisturizer – as happens in most skin care routines. It opens the pores so the final lotion works more profoundly.You also wash away any alcohol with the final non-alcohol rinse.

I hope this explains why there are two different antibacterial rinses – and many different purposes!

It is hard to advise for people in other countries but I think you have generally less-toxic choices than here in the U.S.. Ultradex is almost an equivalent of Closys and for toothpaste you may want to use plain Colgate or the simplest one you can find that contains sodium fluoride, silica and NO glycerin. Fluorigard is quite similar to ACT, but look for 0.05% sodium fluoride rinse. The outcome may not be exact, but I am sure you will notice improvements. We are working on ways to get products to the UK – and we have a number of dentists interested in stocking them.